The Commonwealth Bank has agreed to pay a $700 million fine over its inadvertent failure to tackle money-laundering. But the penalty is in line with punishments for far more serious violations by other banks.

The UK is no slouch when it comes to protecting against financial crime. It follows the relevant European directives, which require that banks have sufficient anti-money-laundering controls in place to…

Millions of people around the world rely on money transfer operators to send funds to their families.
Gregory Wake/FlickrNovember 21, 2014

Next week, Australian bank Westpac will become the last of the big four banks to stop serving money transfer operators, amid concerns about breaching laws on money laundering and terrorist financing. There…

Marijuana is legal in some states, but that doesn’t mean that banks can deal with the proceeds.
Rick Wilking/Reuters October 27, 2014

In nearly half of US states, marijuana business is booming. Although marijuana is illegal under federal law, 23 states have legalized some marijuana use. Colorado and Washington even allow recreational…

The third season of Breaking Bad, the American TV drama series about a crystal meth dealer in Albuquerque, contains a key scene about the business side of an emerging crime empire. Here, the unscrupulous…